Today was Monday and I was reaching the end of my Austin BBQ Adventures. The plan today was to try and hit all the big name BBQ joints outside of Austin all in one hit. The big one today was Louie Mueller, famous for his BBQ since 1949 and now run by his son Wayne Mueller. I jumped in the mustang with no sense of urgency and set my gps for the town of Taylor, about an hours drive from Austin. The journey was fun as always while I listened to my favorite tunes very loudly while driving a little too fast in my red beast. I made it to Louie Muellers around 10:30am, nekminut they didn't open till 11am. I walked around the sleepy little town and I noticed that Louie Muellers seemed to follow a trend of some of the other BBQ places I had been to in remote towns - someone opens up a little BBQ shop in a small town then all of sudden becomes famous and outgrows the whole town.
I walked back to Muellers and sat around waiting till opening time. Once the doors opened the smell of smoked things hit me as it always does. By this point my stomach was starting to feel in a bit of pain from all the protein I had been consuming. I was having a mental fight with myself to go in there and eat all the deliciousness. Knowing it would be a long time before I returned - I stepped inside. It was such a cool vibe, lots of old antique BBQ tools and ornaments that had been there since 1949. It seemed this place was a huge part of the towns history and so I stepped up to the counter to place my order.
I was the first person in the venue which was a surprise but everyone behind the counter was super friendly and I was introduced to Mr Wayne Mueller, the pit master himself. I then proceeded to chat to the cutter about all things meat. As standard I got a few slices of brisket - Lean and fatty, I got 2 ribs, a sausage link and then he mentioned that I should try the beef rib. I was then told it was one pound per rib and my stomach had a little moment and I asked him if I had to try it, it was then followed by a look that said I would be a fool not to try the beef rib. Once I had filled up my plate with the following I got a side of potato salad, some special jalapeno sauce and a pot of BBQ sauce.
I grabbed a seat and set my camera up to take some photos, it was at this point it seemed a whole bunch of people started piling in. It seemed people from all over where coming to eat the BBQ here too! I got a few funny looks but I tucked into my food. At this point I was becoming hungry and everything was smelling so good! I tried the brisket, it wasn't as fall apart in my hands as I would have liked but the bark was incredible, by far the best rub and bark I had eaten so far. So deliciously salty and crisp yet the meat was still tender (not as tender as Franklin brisket though). I enjoyed the brisket and thought that it was a sensationally cooked meat. I let myself stop for a second then I tried a pork rib, it was OK, a bit dry, and I ended up not even finishing them.
I then moved to the behemoth sized singular beef rib that lay before me. It looked incredible and smelt manly! It had an incredibly dark thick bark around it which excited me greatly! I grabbed the huge bone and took a huge bite out of the meat using the hands and mouth god gave me. I took a minute then oh dear goodness me holy mackerel, this could be the greatest thing I had ever put in my mouth. It was so damn crispy, salty and delicious on the outside and on the inside, oh man, it was so soft and tender, it fell apart and you could see the smoke ring around the meat. It was so ridiculously good. Oh boy, I was so happy, I am even hungry just thinking about how good this thing was. I could see why it was their specialty. It was clear that the slow cooked nature and the rub that was only nine parts pepper and one part salt just enhanced the meat itself. All I can say is, you haven't eaten meat until you have eaten that! Potato salad was great and the BBQ sauce was kind of like a tomato soup which I didn't really like. But apparently that is also a thing in Texas - BBQ sauce is just a moisture adding tool, not a flavouring tool traditionally speaking.
Score
Brisket - 9/10 - A completely different brisket to Snow's and Franklins. It had it's own identity but I liked it all the same. The bark was what sold it for me.
Pork Ribs - 6/10 - Dry and hard, flavour was great but the meat was just not cooked right.
Beef Ribs - 10/10 - Would eat again. Dick yeh.
Potato Salad - 7/10 - Went well with the meal, was yummy.
Conclusion
After my meal I met with Wayne Mueller, Louie Muellers son and Pit Master. He was one of the nicest guys I had met so far in the BBQ world and really took his time with me to run through everything, check that I was doing OK and let me interview him for quite some time about BBQ. He was very knowledgeable and had trained up people from all over the world to cook BBQ (even people from Australia!). The family vibe of the place and the quality of the food left me with a really good feeling and is definitely somewhere I will be going back to. A great BBQ place and with beef ribs to die for. Get in there! BBQ!!!!
I walked back to Muellers and sat around waiting till opening time. Once the doors opened the smell of smoked things hit me as it always does. By this point my stomach was starting to feel in a bit of pain from all the protein I had been consuming. I was having a mental fight with myself to go in there and eat all the deliciousness. Knowing it would be a long time before I returned - I stepped inside. It was such a cool vibe, lots of old antique BBQ tools and ornaments that had been there since 1949. It seemed this place was a huge part of the towns history and so I stepped up to the counter to place my order.
I was the first person in the venue which was a surprise but everyone behind the counter was super friendly and I was introduced to Mr Wayne Mueller, the pit master himself. I then proceeded to chat to the cutter about all things meat. As standard I got a few slices of brisket - Lean and fatty, I got 2 ribs, a sausage link and then he mentioned that I should try the beef rib. I was then told it was one pound per rib and my stomach had a little moment and I asked him if I had to try it, it was then followed by a look that said I would be a fool not to try the beef rib. Once I had filled up my plate with the following I got a side of potato salad, some special jalapeno sauce and a pot of BBQ sauce.
I grabbed a seat and set my camera up to take some photos, it was at this point it seemed a whole bunch of people started piling in. It seemed people from all over where coming to eat the BBQ here too! I got a few funny looks but I tucked into my food. At this point I was becoming hungry and everything was smelling so good! I tried the brisket, it wasn't as fall apart in my hands as I would have liked but the bark was incredible, by far the best rub and bark I had eaten so far. So deliciously salty and crisp yet the meat was still tender (not as tender as Franklin brisket though). I enjoyed the brisket and thought that it was a sensationally cooked meat. I let myself stop for a second then I tried a pork rib, it was OK, a bit dry, and I ended up not even finishing them.
I then moved to the behemoth sized singular beef rib that lay before me. It looked incredible and smelt manly! It had an incredibly dark thick bark around it which excited me greatly! I grabbed the huge bone and took a huge bite out of the meat using the hands and mouth god gave me. I took a minute then oh dear goodness me holy mackerel, this could be the greatest thing I had ever put in my mouth. It was so damn crispy, salty and delicious on the outside and on the inside, oh man, it was so soft and tender, it fell apart and you could see the smoke ring around the meat. It was so ridiculously good. Oh boy, I was so happy, I am even hungry just thinking about how good this thing was. I could see why it was their specialty. It was clear that the slow cooked nature and the rub that was only nine parts pepper and one part salt just enhanced the meat itself. All I can say is, you haven't eaten meat until you have eaten that! Potato salad was great and the BBQ sauce was kind of like a tomato soup which I didn't really like. But apparently that is also a thing in Texas - BBQ sauce is just a moisture adding tool, not a flavouring tool traditionally speaking.
 |
| Original sausage making machine from 1949. |
Score
Brisket - 9/10 - A completely different brisket to Snow's and Franklins. It had it's own identity but I liked it all the same. The bark was what sold it for me.
Pork Ribs - 6/10 - Dry and hard, flavour was great but the meat was just not cooked right.
Beef Ribs - 10/10 - Would eat again. Dick yeh.
Potato Salad - 7/10 - Went well with the meal, was yummy.
Conclusion
After my meal I met with Wayne Mueller, Louie Muellers son and Pit Master. He was one of the nicest guys I had met so far in the BBQ world and really took his time with me to run through everything, check that I was doing OK and let me interview him for quite some time about BBQ. He was very knowledgeable and had trained up people from all over the world to cook BBQ (even people from Australia!). The family vibe of the place and the quality of the food left me with a really good feeling and is definitely somewhere I will be going back to. A great BBQ place and with beef ribs to die for. Get in there! BBQ!!!!
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